2022 NEHEMIAH ACTION ASSEMBLY
DO JUSTICE. LOVE MERCY. WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD.
Gather with thousands of other faithful people from across Columbia to ask our local officials to take action on the issues that effect our communities every day. This year we’ll be asking for proven and researched solutions to
Gun Violence, Affordable Housing, and Mental Health.
All attendees must register so we can ensure proper COVID safety and adequate spacing.
Doors open at 5 PM. Event begins at 6:30 PM.
Please review our COVID safety measures and other FAQ below.
How does MORE Justice work?
In the Fall, Team Leaders host House Meetings to discuss community problems that are directly impacting people. At the Community Problems Assembly, members vote on which problem areas to prioritize for the year. Issue Committees are formed to conduct research into those problems, and ultimately come up with specific, winnable solutions. At our Nehemiah Action in the spring, thousands gather to ask public officials to implement these solutions. After the Nehemiah Action, leaders follow up on the commitments made at the Action, and members are invited to invest in MORE Justice.
Who was Nehemiah? What is a “Nehemiah” Action?
In 5th chapter of the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, the Prophet Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem to find his people being exploited. During a terrible drought and famine, a group of moneylenders began capitalizing off of the Israelites desperation by enticing them to buy loans with high interest rates. When the Israelites defaulted on their loans, they were forced to sell their children into slavery (Nehemiah 5:1-5).
Instead of practicing mercy ministry by providing direct service in order to alleviate his people's immediate needs, Nehemiah understood the problem stemmed from a unjust system and the root cause had to be addressed with systemic change. In doing this, Nehemiah was practicing justice ministry.
Nehemiah used his influence to coordinate a "great assembly" where a large Israelites called out the moneylenders for their foul practices. Upon seeing the great numbers gathered to hold them accountable, the moneylenders publicly promised to abandon their practices of usury and to return to the people all that they had taken unjustly.
Every year, MORE Justice recreates the "Great Assembly" Nehemiah led by holding our own Action Assembly.
Like in Nehemiah 5, the assembly addresses public officials and powerful decision makers and asks them to publicly commit to use their positions of authority to address our community’s problems.
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Building relationships and being in community with one another is foundational to our work of justice ministry. It has been three years since we gathered in-person at a Nehemiah Action Assembly and this year we plan to be together once again to stand in solidarity with one another in our call to do justice. Our people power exists throughout the year and has been evident on screens over the past two years, but we know that our people power is most effective and most impactful when we can be physically together.
That said, MORE Justice’s commitment to protecting the health of our community is paramount. That is why we will have several safety precautions in place at the MORE Justice Nehemiah Action Assembly on Monday, April 4th at 6:30 PM at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center (1101 Lincoln St, Columbia, SC 29201). Safety precautions in place at our member congregations vary greatly. We want to ensure that this event is accessible for everyone in our community by putting these precautions in place so that everyone will feel safe.
We will be mindful of cases up until the Action and will make changes as needed.
All participants must wear a KN95 or N95 mask for the duration of the assembly. MORE Justice will have a supply on hand to help supplement, but ask that if attendees have a KN95 or N95 mask that you bring your own.
Temperatures will be taken at the door.
We encourage individuals who attend to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive a negative COVID test within 48 hours of the event start time.
In addition, the Convention Center has received the “GBAC Star Facility Accreditation, the gold standard for safe facilities and the cleaning industry’s only outbreak preparation, response, and recovery accreditation.” In addition to many precautions, the facility is outfitted with “MERV-13 air filters which improve indoor air quality.” These filters have a high efficiency at catching particles including COVID-19 particles that might be in the air.
We are asking for attendees to register online ahead of the event to confirm that they will follow these precautions. You can register using this link: https://forms.gle/7Fh7rYEqQf497Pk59.
For anyone who is immunocompromised or unable to attend due to lack of childcare at this event, please email morejusticecolumbia@gmail.com to discuss options to make this event accessible.
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If your ability to attend is prohibited due to lack of childcare at this event, please email morejusticecolumbia@gmail.com to discuss options to make this event accessible.
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We encourage congregations to reserve congregational vehicles (buses or vans) when possible, and/or coordinate carpooling to the event. We are still in conversation about parking options and will have more information. To create the most ease in getting people in and out of the event carpooling is highly recommended.
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Spanish interpretation: either simultaneous interpretation or scripts written in Spanish will be provided. The registration link asks for people who require interpretation to indicate so, and we will be in touch.